Cutting boards are made from a range of materials, including wood or stone. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,870,173 discloses a cutting board which is constructed simply of a relatively thick (11/2″) piece of soft wood such as Douglas fir and reinforced with wooden dowels perpendicular to the grain of the wood. Such unique construction maintains the flatness of the board allowing it to be maintenance free and washable in a normal dishwasher cycle without warping. Wood sufficiently porous to allow for liquid or other matter to seep into its pores and crevices. Over time and repeated usage, this can lead to contamination. The wood is sufficiently soft to be cut by the knife, resulting in further sites for contamination. Further to this, the cuts are unsightly. The board also has to be thick in order for it to not warp. This means it cannot be bent or folded. Bending and folding allow a user to easily transfer the cut food from the board.
Stone boards are generally non-porous and are not subject to knife cuts. The hardness however, leads to damage and rapid dulling of knives.
As cleanliness is a common problem, U.S. Pat. No. 8,985,567 discloses a cutting board that allows a user to prepare food on one side of the cutting board while the other is being cleaned. The device provides a user a quick and easy transition to a new, clean, cutting board work surface without the need to carry waste to a disposal bin, without having to stop to wash and dry the soiled surface of the cutting board. This is a complex system for providing clean cutting surface. It does not address the removal of cuts in the board, which can harbour bacteria and can retain food, nor can the board be folded or bent.
Another approach is to dispose of the cutting board after use. U.S. Pat. No. 8,141,860 discloses foldable and disposable cutting board for preparing food is made of a thin, resiliently flexible sheet of propylene, stainless steel or other cut-resistant material. The board has a triangular section projecting away from the user to form a distal pouring funnel and spout when the board is folded along its middle by grabbing both sides and moving them toward each other. A narrow fence extending upwardly from the periphery of the board converges at the apex of the triangular section. A rigidizing flange extends outwardly from the upper rim of the fence but is interrupted near the apex. The fence is interrupted along an offset portion of the edge in order to provide clearance for the blade and handle of a chopping or mincing instrument. This is a relatively complex cutting board. Disposable cutting boards are wasteful and are a very poor approach to providing a clean surface. Most users would tend to reuse the board. Reuse would result in all the deficiencies of a conventional cutting board.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,994,335 also discloses a disposable and absorbent cutting board. It is constructed from a layer of corrugations and an absorbent layer. The corrugations may be relatively small and tightly spaced to provide the board with strength and rigidity. The absorbent layer may be made of non-woven cellulosic fibers and include one or more score lines to facilitate folding. A backing layer may also be provided, on the layer of corrugations opposite to the absorbent layer, to provide non-skid oliophilic or hydrophilic properties. The board is provided with score lines to allow for it to be folded. Again, disposable cutting boards are an unacceptable approach to providing a clean cutting surface.
In a related approach, U.S. Pat. No. 7,758,029 discloses a cutting board with a plurality of cutting sheets. The sheets are disposed of once used.
More recently, cutting boards have been made of hard plastics. Such plastic materials do provide a less porous and more easily sterilizable surface, however, they have been found to be inferior to wood with regard to anti-bacterial properties. Further, they are less cut resistance and thus can more quickly become marred or otherwise defaced.
Storage containers tend to be made of plastic polymers or glass. Both are reusable. There is concern about storing food in the plastic polymer storage containers, as releasing agents and other components have been shown to leach into the food. Further, microwaving food in these containers is not recommended. Glass containers are superior to the plastic polymer containers as they do not leach and there is little concern over microwaving food in them. They are, however, prone to breaking, heavy and more expensive. Neither of these mask odours, nor do they allow for limited gas exchange, while inhibiting or reducing moisture exchange.
United States Patent Application 20050239355 discloses a formable play material is constructed from pouring a melted plasticine clay material over a nylon mesh sheet creating a nylon reinforced sheet of pliable clay. The formable play material has improved moldability due to the reinforcement and is easily reshaped and welded together by pinching and pressure. The formulation is Microcrystalline Wax 10 Pounds; #10 Weight Oil ½ Gallon; Automotive Grease 4 Pounds; and Dry Clay Powder 25 Pounds. Beeswax may be used for part of the wax component. Petroleum jelly may be used for the grease. Purified mineral oil may be substituted for the 10 weight motor oil. Using these alternatives, the moldable material smells better and does not have a problem with the rubber mold compounds. Varying the proportions of the constituents slightly will yield harder or softer clays. The provided sheet is intended to stay soft and pliable so it may be reshaped or welded together through pinching and pressure, or layered over existing mold forms. If the Sheet begins to lose pliability or to firm up, it may be resoftened with the application of heat. This product would not be safe for use with food, nutraceuticals, herbs, or the like.
What is needed is a cutting board that is soft enough to reduce dulling of knives, while not being permanently damaged by the knife cuts. It would be a further advantage if the board could be rejuvenated. It preferably would have anti-bacterial properties, be bendable and foldable, and could be rolled into a tube, but rigid enough to maintain its planar shape. It would be preferably if it was light weight. It would also be preferable if it was non-skid. It would be of further advantage if it was hydrophobic. It would be preferable if the cutting board had the features of: washable; compostable; self-healing; flexible; soft enough to minimize knife damage; stain resistant; anti-microbial; and water resistant. It would be further preferable if the same combination could be used to form storage containers. In this case, it would be preferable if it was rigid enough to maintain its shape. It would be preferable if the storage containers had the features of: washable; remouldable; so as to be reusable; compostable; breathable; flexible; stain resistant; anti-microbial; and water resistant.